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Comment by laowan | Hacker News Reader

Coffee just makes me need to shit a lot more.

This is rarely (if ever) mentioned in all these articles claiming that coffee is so beneficial. I drink a fair amount of coffee and try to cut back frequently because of this issue. It isn't just that coffee makes me crap more, it degrades the...qualify of the crap. Am I alone here? Seems like it can't be good for me.

I agree with you that the frequency of my shitting goes up while the quality goes down, although I was amused when I came across this line:

> That same high dosage is also effective in fighting against colorectal cancer

I do have to wonder if it's not a primary effect of anything in the coffee, but rather a byproduct of the secondary effects.

Frankly, as someone who probably doesn't eat as much fiber as I should and who sits far too long all day, this is just another added benefit. Gotta keep moving.

I've actually found that one cup of a specific type of coffee, namely instant coffee, drank immediately after breakfast, nearly always guarantees a bowel movement.

I've actually found it to be extremely useful part of my daily routine and when I need to break the routine for whatever reason (I live nomadically so my routines are always changing), my whole day is usually a lot more uncomfortable (i.e., my digestive system and bowls feel slower).

I still haven't identified how all this works, but it's an interesting anecdote.

>I still haven't identified how all this works, but it's an interesting anecdote

Coffee acts as a laxative. Interestingly, this effect is observed in decaf as well.

Source: Boekema PJ, Samsom M, et al. Coffee and gastrointestinal function: facts and fiction. A review. Scand J Gastroenterol Suppl. 1999;230:35-9. PMID 10499460

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10499460

I drink at about 8 8 oz cups of coffee a day during the week plus a couple cans of soda. I also poop once a day, withing 45 minutes of 4:30pm. I am scared of what the implications would be if I stopped consuming so much caffeine

Sheldon Cooper, is that you?

Impossible. He doesn't drink coffee.

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